In the comments section of my last blog entry there was a discussion about what percentage of IBS sufferers could trace their symptoms back to stress, what percentage to gastroenteritis, what percentage to surgery, and so on. A member of the IBS Self-Help Group has kindly found a study which gives some figures for this – this is what it says:
“Over 40% of patients questioned in a retrospective study attributed the onset of their symptoms to a definite event, such as a course of antibiotics, abdominal or pelvic surgery, or a bout of gastroenteritis.”
So, a large minority of people can point to a fairly definitive starting date for their IBS. I presume that the rest of the patients, if questioned, might be able to point to a period of stress as a possible trigger, but not such as a clear-cut starting date, or they might not be able to identify any kind of triggering factor.
Of course, these figures don’t really help us figure out much about IBS, but I think it is useful to point out that so many sufferers date their symptoms back to a defining moment. Heather Van Vorous says in her book Eating for IBS that one theory is that all of these things, the antibiotics or the surgery or the food poisoning or the extreme stress, result in a kind of “grievous insult” to the gut which is somehow remembered by the nerve system.
By this description, IBS is almost Post-Traumatic Bowel Disorder – something incredibly traumatic such as surgery occurs and the bowel never quite gets over it. I quite like that name actually, sounds far more serious-minded than Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
I had stomach problems for probably 5 or 6 years prior to when I got full blown IBS. I refered to it as “gut rot”. On the night when I finally got the full blown IBS, my colon felt like it was a roller coaster for 24 hours. I literally thought I was dying. I’m certain that stress played a roll in how I got IBS.
I’m sure a solid percentage of the other 60% in the study would say that stress also played a roll in how they got IBS. This gives the gut/brain connection(nervous system) a lot of pull in my opinion. I’m seeing a chiropractor next week and I’ll try to give an update on how that goes. Yet another avenue to try in my never ending quest to find a cure! lol
August 2000. Remember it well. Mine was brought on by surgery and the antibiotics that followed. I do sometimes think that there is a link tho.. maybe a stressful life is a reason – and the surgery was just the final straw for my body who threw a big tantrum.. Nobody can pinpoint reasons for this.. but maybe its a mixture of all the factors.. I know now that if I get upset or emotional or stressed it triggers off my ibs – so there must be some link somewhere..
Lots of theories – and one must admit that Stress is the most popular one expounded by the medical profession ! that is because it is an easy ?cop out ‘ I don’t really know the cause of your/ and the worlds(!) IBS. but the strongest theory we have is it is due to stress’ Well, he/she has said their bit, and off you And that causes more stress!!I am 99.99% sure that mine is the result of an acute attack of salmonella when abroad. I was hospitalised for it and treated with drips and anti-biotics. But in the past – the very dim past,like 40 years ago – I had gastric surgery, ie. partial gastrectomy – for gastric ulcers. Since then I have had to be a little careful what I eat – no red meat, as I cannot digest it but that diet has been with me so long that I don’t connect that with the onset of IBS. After the gastroenteritis I suddenly lost a lot of weight, for no apparent reason – all the usual tests followed to eliminate all the nasties, and the verdict was IBS. Who am I to argue – only the sufferer !!! As I have written before on these comments, I can cope- I have structured my life so that I am able to function socially – always with the Immodium in my pocket !!!! What a good advert. for that tiny tablet – I recently enjoyed a 7 day tour of Irish Gardens, suitably armed. The contents of my shoulder bag includes a wad of toilet paper, a large plastic bag, as I am one of the vomiters , Colpermin and/or mebeverine ( not that they do a lot of good!)and a small bottle of water ! The coach boasted a toilet, so I felt reasonably safe ! Back to the comments on Sophie’s Blog – I am very puzzled why An IBS sufferer is going to see a chiropractor – pardon my ignorance, but I thought such worthy people worked on the neck and back, not the guts !!! But you never know they may have the knack of tweeking the guts! Let us know the outcome.
Thanks as always for your comments – it’s great to be able to bounce ideas off fellow sufferers. Just one point that I wanted to add is that it’s important to differentiate between what causes IBS and what triggers it. Doctors do sometimes fob us off by just saying “It’s caused by stress”, but in fact all of the gastro institutions agree that IBS isn’t CAUSED by stress – but it can certainly be triggered by it.
This goes for all the other triggering events too – food poisoning, surgery and antibiotics being the ones most commonly cited. Antibiotics by themselves for example can’t possibly *cause* IBS, because then every last person who was given antibiotics would get IBS – there has to be something more going on in the IBS body to make us susceptible to these gut problems.
It’s just the same with stress – most people can go through a divorce or a house move or whatever without camping out in the toilet – there has to be something about the IBS gut that means we respond differently to these normal events.
I think the brain-gut explanation, as IBS Sufferer says, is a very interesting theory in this respect (and certainly a well-respected theory) because it provides an explanation as to why some people recover completely from these triggering events, and others get IBS for years and sometimes decades after the event itself. If the communication between our brains and our guts is hurt by the “grievous insult” of the triggering event, then that’s something that might be able to exist for years – and something that we could, for whatever reason, be more predisposed to than the lucky non-sufferers with their stupid iron stomachs and perfect intestines.
I’ve had IBS for 16 years but for most of those was way more functional than I am now. Things got really bad about a year and a half ago after a food poisoning incident (which I feel like I’ve never completely recovered from). At this point the presence of stress (or lack of) doesn’t seem to make any appreciable difference to my symptoms — the only thing that seems to affect that is food.
One of the reasons that I’ve decided to see a chiropractor is because I’ve recently noticed that one of my shoulders is a little higher than the other one. Not to sound perverted here but check in the mirror to see if one nipple is higer than the other. I never noticed this until just recently. So if this does nothing for my IBS atleast I might get some overdue adjustments. Chiropractors believe that “disease is the result of abnormal function of the nervous system” which gives me atleast a little hope some ajustments might help my stomach.
I’m a firm believer that if one body part is suffering then other body parts will suffer as well. Just because I have a bad stomach doesn’t necessarily mean that my stomach is the main reason I’m suffering. It’s possible that my nervous system is messed up which is causing the stomach problems.
An example of this would be that I get headaches whenever I eat peanuts. Before I knew I was allergic to peanuts I never would’ve guessed that my HEADaches were the result of what’s going into my STOMACH.
Hey, it’s been awhile I didn’t visit here.
I went to see my doctor to update my IBS. He prescribed to me on Dicetel 100 mg. I have to take when I have the symptoms 3 times a day during meals.
Yesterday, my IBS kicked in so I took 2 for a start. I can’t say if it helps or not I guess it will take weeks to see the difference. But I’m not even sure I’ll take that often because yesterday when I took the pills I felt confused, my heart beat fast/harder and a bit tired. That lasted for an hour then I felt okay. Anyways we’ll see.
Now what triggers IBS. Well the stress doesn’t trigger the syndrome, but it does trigger the symptoms which I’m very stressful person for stupid reasons. So I don’t know what triggered mine. I never had a surgery. I didn’t take anti-biotics when I was sick while I was younger like strep-throat, etc. I wonder if that’s the cause.
Anyways, ttyl!
Hi I have just been diagnosed with IBS after having Pancreatic surgery 5 months ago. I’ve endured 5 months of hell on a variety of tablets including codein phosphate of varying strengths and sat on the loo for what must add up to days and weeks in absolute agony (mostly an hour after eating). I’d had pancreas cancer, I’m 32, I previously had no problems with my bowel. As I had my spleen removed I have to be on life long antibiotics and I am convinced they havent helped (erythromycin then penicillen). After surgery my bowel ‘went to sleep’ so I’m told, and I looked heavily pregnant for about 10 days. I have finally stopped taking codein and am now trying colofac. So far so good but I’ve found that dairy, red meat and alcohol all cause me havoc!
I’m very interested in trying alternative therapies but dont know where to start. Any ideas?
I read about stories of many of you who suffer from IBS that severly worsened after surgery, antibiotics, or food poisening. I has a hysterectomy almost a year ago and my intestines have never recovered. If anyone has anything to offer about treatment medical or holistic please let me know.I have tried many different medicines but I am willing to do anything. Thank you
I’ve been a sufferer of IBS for 13 years and I can share that stress caused much havoc for me. As soon as I rid myself of the stress the IBS got much better. I’ve also had endometriosis and have had multiple surgeries, including a hysterectomy. The one thing that helped me the most was Metamucil. It seems very strange to take it when you have diarrhea but it works as a sponge during that time.
I have been fortunate enough in the past 5 or 6 years to be pain free and to not even have a flare up. However, recently I had another laproscopic (abdominal) surgery and this has caused some problems once again. I finally got in under control and just had a bad case of food poisioning from eating Sushi. I’m still working on getting it under control and am dealing with lots of bloating or pressure. I’ve recently purchased the book from Heather Van Vorous called “Eating for IBS” and hope that this helps. It has been very informative and the plus is she is a sufferer as well. I beleive the Peppermint and Fennel teas are helping and I’m also taking Levsin for spasms. I’m just curious if others have the bloating because this is something I didn’t experience in my younger years and can food posion be a cuplprit? It seems like a day later I was dealing with horrible bloating or pressure
Thank you and blessings,
ibs SUFFERER: i HAD NO SYMPTOMS FOR ABOUT 1 YEAR..THEN HAD SINUS INFECTION & WAS LOADED UP BY DR. WITH LEVIQUIN & OTHER DRUGS FOR 2 MOS. tHEN i ATE AT BURGER king AND NEXT DAY WAS SO SIK WITH ibs…nOW 3 MOS LATER STILL TRYING TO RECOVER.sTAY AWAY FROM ALL ANTIBIOTICS & bURGERKING.